Cris David with Contiki team

For the past nine years, since July 1998, he has worked at the Travel Corporation, home to other brands such as Trafalgar, Insight Vacations, Busabout and AAT Kings.

Growing up in South Africa

Cris David, President, Contiki

David, one of four brothers, was born in Johannesburg, South Africa and grew up in the time of apartheid. His upbringing and environment has informed much of his outlook on life today.

“I feel very fortunate to have had that upbringing and to have that experience.” Living in a society “that was so deeply divided, being privileged on account of my race…that’s the legacy of growing up in South Africa. You get a very acute sense of social awareness and social inequality and unfairness.”

He and his wife, who is also from South Africa, often return to their home country, having visited just a few months ago on a family holiday. “I feel very attached to South Africa. We go back quite frequently…I also love the fact that my children will have an identity of being partly South African as well.”

A curiosity about society

This environment that shaped him also awakened his curiosity about society and the world around him. He left home at age 18 to study in the U.S., and he pursued an undergraduate degree in sociology at the University of California, Berkeley.

Interestingly, he says, “I never foresaw having a career in business. I was a sociology major and I always intended on becoming an academic and actually started on that path. I started a Masters program in sociology at UCLA, it just wasn’t the right fit for me. That’s when I decided to switch to business.”

David returned to South Africa after college and obtained his MBA from the University of Cape Town. While at home, he also worked in community development, establishing a high school for farm labourers’ children in a rural area outside of Johannesburg.

Coming to Canada

Cris David, President of Contiki at the Toronto 2007 Festival of Beer with the Contiki gang, wife on his left

The future president of Contiki moved to Canada with his wife; she was immigrating to Canada with her family and he followed. Then it was time for the MBA graduate to get a job.

“I was kind of long on education and short on work experience,” he says, adding that he was looking to “get a foothold in an industry that interested me and that I could foresee a future for myself in.”

That’s where the travel industry came in. “Being a South African, travel was always ingrained [in us] as an aspiration. South Africans are similar to Australians and New Zealanders…we have a yearning to explore the world. We’re more isolated, so to get to Europe, to get to the U.S. is something very exciting.”

David began working at the Travel Corporation as the sales manager for a new company, Busabout, a hop-on-hop-off motorcoach network throughout Europe. Some of his colleagues used to call him ‘Bus Boy’ as a joke, a nickname that has stuck over the years.

What keeps him busy?

Cris David at work

With two small children keeping him occupied, David still manages to find time for several pastimes; one of them is keeping fit. He enjoys running when he can, and has completed two marathons in the past. “I aspire to do at least one more marathon…before I get too old,” he quips.

He also has talents in the kitchen, cooking up family dinners, often without using a recipe. David’s cooking leans towards the flavours of his boyhood in South Africa, so he makes curries and other Indian-influenced meals, but also other dishes such as pastas and stir-fries.

The sexist book club

David also has an exclusive membership in a book club which has some interesting rules. First of all, he says, “It’s a completely sexist book club. It’s all men, and you know, I don’t feel too bad about that because my wife has hers as well, and it’s an all-female book club.” All the books must be non-fiction and written by men as well.

At the same time, he reads fiction on his own, favouring works by contemporary Indian authors such as Rohinton Mistry and Salman Rushdie.

When I’m 65…

David retains a free-spirited attitude about himself and his other non-work-related interests. He says that if he were not in the travel industry, he could see himself staying in marketing, but “aside from that, I often harbour fantasies of my retirement and picture myself in a workshop where I would make furniture” and work with his hands.
All’s fair in business!

The sociologist has given way to the businessman in David’s professional life, and he shares a quote that his brother recently reminded him of: “If you’re not a socialist when you’re 20, you don’t have a heart. If you’re still a socialist when you’re 40, you don’t have a brain.”

David says, “At this point I’m a capitalist. I love business, I love what I do, love my job, absolutely am passionate about Contiki, and what it stands for. I feel very fortunate to be involved with a business that serves such a positive function in the world, opening young people’s eyes to the world, to other cultures, to travel. I think it’s such a wonderful, life-changing experience for a young person to go overseas and see the world from another point of view for the first time.”

He adds, “I also enjoy the game of business and doing well. Fortunately Contiki is having a great year and we have grown the business a lot. So that sort of competitive side can really come out in me. But I think, deep down, I am still definitely liberal in my outlook on life.”

TRAVELHotNews would like to thank Cris David for his time and generosity in granting this interview.

Coming next month: A profile on Insight Vacations president, Doug Patterson
 

Cris David, President, Contiki, at the Toronto 2007 Festival of Beer with the Contiki gang, wife on his left	Cris David, President, Contiki (centre) with Contiki team
Melissa Smith, Reservations Agent, Contiki
Cris David, President, Contiki, working in the office	Cris David, President, Contiki, working in the office
Cris David, President, Contiki, at Frederick Travel in Guelph with Contiki window display